Suffragists out of the Shadows: Plus News Flash!

NEWS FLASH: Original 19th Amendment document on display at Clinton Library for a limited time. Special radio report by Malcolm Glover. Link.

EXTRA, EXTRA!!A new book about Long Island women, published by The History Press, just came in the mail. I’m looking forward to curling up on the couch and reading Women in Long Island’s Past: A History of Eminent Ladies and Everyday Lives by Natalie A. Naylor, Professor Emerita at Hofsta University, editor of the Nassau County Historical Society Journal, and Long Island Historian. This puts Grandmother Edna and her times in a much clearer perspective.

I breezed through the digital book with many clicks and slides, although it took considerable effort to digest the material. Consider it a detailed report from the Big Three of the suffrage movement (Cady Stanton, Anthony, Gage) passed on down to us today. Personal accounts, letters, original documents, reports, recommendations, meeting minutes, speeches, and much more were documented with a freshness and with an ear and eye to passing on an account of those precious moments.

If people laughed or clapped during a speech, it’s noted. The authors were aware that if they didn’t document the suffrage movement, no one would. And since women documenting their activism was a rare event, it’s all the more valuable for us today. Volume I is a remarkable document, considering it’s from a time period when women were infrequently seen and heard. I read my free version on Amazon, and it’s available on several other internet sites.

My favorite parts: the 1840 Anti-Slavery Convention in London where Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott hatched their plans for the Seneca Falls Convention (though it wouldn’t take place until eight years later) and the Seneca Falls Convention itself.